O’Brien places 3rd at state in 50-yard freestyle

The Ketchikan swim and dive girls finished 13th out of 16 teams and the boys came in 13th out of 19 teams at State last weekend.Senior Kiera O’Brien came in 3rd place with a time of 28.82 for the 50 yard freestyle. O’Brien also came in 5th (5:21.95) for the 500 yard freestyle. Although she did not place at state senior Bernadette Franulovich was only 1 of 2 girls to go to state for Ketchikan. Franulovich came 16th (1:17.07) for the 100 yard breaststroke. Five boys qualified for State: seniors Chance Rhein, Brennen Schulz, sophomores Gabe Bowlen, Maury Meiresonne, and junior Kegan Rhein.Chance Rhein, Schulz, Bowlen, and Meiresonne came in 7th (3:21.64) in the 400 yard freestyle relay. Chance Rhein came in 7th (1:01.44) for the 100 yard breaststroke. Kegan Rhein came in 6th with a score of 321.90 for Kayhi’s dive team.“State was a great experience,” said Franulovich. “I am very thankful that I was fortunate enough to end my high school swimming career with it.”At State last year O’Brien took 8th in the 500 yard freestyle.“I’m happy that I ended with lifetime best’s and placed at state in both my events,” said O’Brien. “Our team swam well as a whole and it was a fun meet and a great way to end my last high school season.”This is the last meet for seniors O’Brien, Franulovich, Chance Rhein, and Schulz.“Having State as my last home meet was tough. It was a very fast meet with a lot of focus and hard work,” said Schulz. “I was happy with what I did at State, I learned some new things, how close my teammates and I were, how much I will miss the sport, and what all my hard work helped me get to.”